Mail & ranting - again

Since my first posting on the unsolicited cards, labels, stickers etc. of 9/24 I have received a further eight mailings with more cards, seals and labels. It is highly unlikely that anyone from any charity is reading this but...

STOP, ENOUGH, CEASE, DESIST!

I already give to a large number of charities (see my original posting). I would really prefer it if you would just send a nice short letter detailing what you have done with my money and what you need help in doing for the next fiscal year. The mailings according your experts are to designed to motiviate people into giving, well for me it won't work. In fact with me it probably will do the opposite, if you have so much money to waste on these things trying to get me to give to you I view it as taking away from your mission of helping others. I have worked 19 years as a volunteer (including board of director member) for a not-for-profit and I know how tight funds are for a not-for-profit. During my time as a BOD member we never did a shotgun approach to raising funds for our programs.

If you want to mount a more effective fund raising program:

1. Send a targeted solicitation to your existing contributors. Offer them the opportunity to order cards, seals, labels as a bonus of sending in a donation.
2. Cut back on the shotgun generic mailing with labels, seals and cards. This is a huge expense for your group and probably does not garner a huge response rate.
3. Clean up your mailing lists. I normally get two or more solicitations from some charities. The only difference is a slight one in my name.
4. Clean up your mailing lists, again. I received a solicitation for my mother. Only one problem, she has been dead since August, 2000.
5. Ask the company you are buying your mailing list from on how current that list is, see point 4.